Singletree



"A -rent twice.

WILLIAM LOUDEN, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

SINGLETREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 547,272, dated October1, 1895.

Application filed February 27,1893. Serial No. 463,987. (No model.)

To all whom it may 0070087764- Be it known that I, WILLIAM LOUDEN, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Singletrees; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

This invention relates to singletrees in which the harness-traces,instead of being hitched to the ends of the singletree, (as is thecommon way,) are passed around and behind the ends thereof and arehitched to the singletree near its central part; and it consists, first,in an improved form of the keepers which hold the traces from slippingoff the ends of the singletree; second, in improved means for connectingtwo singletrees to a spreader attachment, and in other detailshereinafter explained.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, Figure 1 is a top orplan view of the invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of therope-hitching plate, showing the plan of hitching the ropes together.Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the spreader-clips. Fig. 4 is a sideview of one of the ends of the singletree, showing how the keepers areattached. Fig. 5 is a cross-section drawn on the line w y in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a singletree made curved to fitclose to the horse, like a breeching. The harness-traces TT are passedaround the ends of the singletree and hitched to hooks H,near itscenter, and are held from slipping off the ends of the singletree bymeans of keepers K K, secured thereto. The keepers K are made of twoseparate plates k and 7.4 bolted on opposite sides of the singletree bythe bolt b ,so as to form a forked keeper, between which the trace T maybe readily placed. On one of the edges of each of the plates 70 and kvertically-projecting fingers k and 70 are formed, so that when theplates are bolted on the singletree the fingers on the lower plates willpoint upward, while those on the upper plates will point downward, andthey will stand diagonally to each other and sufficiently apart to admitthe trace between them. By this means the harness-trace may be readilyslipped out or in between the plates 7& and k by bending it so as toescape the fingers k and k but while the trace is in its normal positionit will be securely held by these fingers between the plates 70 and kconstituting the keeper. The keepers, being in two separate parts andapplied to opposite sides of the singletree, may be let into thesingletree or blocked out, as may be required to fit the size of thetrace- A represents a similar singletree, and B a spreader for joiningthe singletrees together for use with a span of horses. The singletreesare secured to the spreader, and a spreader rope or chain F is connectedto each singletree and to the draft-rope D in the following manner:Metallic loops 0 and 0, adapted to embrace the ends of the spreader, arebolted thereon by means of bolts b and b. The front ends of thesemetallic loops are fitted with hooks h and h, to which the singletreesare hooked by nieans of their eyes 2 and e. The spreaderrope is securedto the rear ends of the loops 0 and (3'. The hooks h and h are set uponthe inner edges of the front ends of the loops 0 and C, so that when thehooks h and it are drawn straight forward from the bolts b and b by thedraft of the horses the rear ends of the loops will be drawn inwardlyand in the same line with the ends of the spreader-rope, thus overcomingthe side strain upon loops 0 and O, which would otherwise be exertedupon them. In place of the hooks h and h being placed on the loops 0 andC to conmeet with eyes on the singletrees the hooks may be placed on thesingletrees and the eyes on the loops, or other suitable means fordetachably connecting the two together may be used without departingfrom the spirit of my invention. The spreader-rope F is preferablypassed through the two front eyes of a hitching-plate E before it isfastened to the loops 0 and C. The draft-rope D is then passed throughthe rear eye of the hitching-plate, then under the spreader-rope betweenthe two front eyes of the hitching-plate, then back over thespreader-rope, and then under itself, as plainly shown in Fig. 2. Bythis means the draft-rope may be readily adjusted to any desired lengthupon the hitching-plate, and its free end will always be firmly heldagainst the plate. The spreader B is set close to the books It and h, soas to close them and prevent the singletrees from becoming unhooked;

ICO

but they may be easily disconnected by taking out the bolts Z) and b.

The outer sides of the singletree may be made concave, as shown in Fig.5, so as to hold the traces more in the middle of the singletree andrelieve the strain on the keepers. This is especially desirable whenrope or chain traces are used.

To hold the singletrees from dropping against the horses heels cords orstraps O O .are used, which are usually provided with a snap-hook S tohook in the harness on the horses back. Sometimes these straps slip toone side of the horse and let the singletree get out of place. Toovercome this I attach side straps V V to the holding-straps 0 0 andsecure them to the traces T T or to some other part of the harness, soas to hold the straps O O apart and keep them from slipping to the sideof the horse. I

On thesingletree A, I have secured to the holding-straps O 0 two sidestraps V V, which I fasten to the forward ends of the singletree. Thisalso helps to overcome the difficulty before mentioned and is theequivalent of the other plan.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters- Patent, is

1. The combination with a curved singletree constructed for the tracesto pass around its ends on its convex side and connect to it with afinger, and adapted to receive and hold the trace between them,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a curved singletree constructed for the tracesto pass around its ends on its convex side and connect to it near thecenter,of separable plates applied to the upper and lower sides of thesingletree near its ends, said plates being each provided with a finger,set so as to stand diagonally toward the opposite finger, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The combination of two single-trees, a spreader bar, a spreader ropeand two metal lic loops embracing the ends of the spreader bar andbolted thereto, said loops being con= nected at their front ends to thesingle-trees- W ILLI'AM LOUD EN.

\Vitnesses:

near the center, of separable plates applied to the upper and lowersides of the singletree W. H. PENOE,

near its ends, said plates being each provided W. H. BLoss.

